Anti-Defamation League

MISSION:
The Anti-Defamation League ("ADL"), http://www.adl.org/,
was founded in 1913 to combat the anti-Semitism and
discrimination against Jews that was prevalent at the
time. Fairly soon after its establishment, ADL's
mission expanded to include the eradication of bias
and discrimination against people of all races and
religions. Amicus curiae, literally "friend of the court,"
briefs have proven to be one of the most effective means
of achieving this goal. Such briefs are filed by groups
which are not parties to a particular dispute but
nevertheless have a stake in its outcome. As a civil rights
organization with a stake in many different types of civil
rights litigation, ADL has filed amicus briefs in cases
involving issues that range from the separation of church
and state to racial discrimination to censorship. Now the
nation's premier civil rights/human relations agency, the
ADL defends democratic ideals and protects civil rights
for all. The ADL serves as a resource for government,
media, law enforcement, educators and the public.

RECENT NEWS:
Following are two projects in which the ADL is fighting
anti-semitism and anti-Israel bias:
1)The ADL is asking visitors to its website to sign a pledge
to support its fight against anti-semitism and anti-Israel
websites and chat groups called "Anti-semitism 2.0."
2)It is asking supporters to sign a letter addressed to Arab
ambassadors to protest anti-semitic cartoons published by
the Arab media; one such cartoon is a picture of Israeli
soldiers imitating the famous Iwo Jima picture, but hoisting
a Nazi flag instead of the American flag. support for a letter
of solidarity to be sent to victims of the Hamas rockets
launched from Gaza.

The ADL had also filed an amicus brief in the recent Supreme
Court decision on the Second Amendment. The brief argued
that the Second Amendment should not be interpreted as
limiting a state’s authority to regulate firearms when it seeks
to protect the life, liberty and property of its citizens. Rather,
the brief argued, the language of the Amendment can only be
reasonably read to prohibit the federal government from
interfering with such state regulation.



FINANCIAL EFFICIENCY EVALUATION:
According to Charity Navigator
(http://www.charitynavigator.org)/ America’s
leading charity evaluator, the ADL has an overall rating
of three stars (four stars is the highest rating.) Charity
Navigator provides the following breakdown of the
ADL based on 990 tax returns through 2006:

Overall Rating ***

Organizational Efficiency:
Program Expenses 78.0%
Administrative Expenses 9.0%
Fundraising Expenses 12.8%
Fundraising Efficiency $0.12
(ADL spends $0.12 to raise $1.)
Efficiency Rating ***

Organizational Capacity:
Program Revenue Growth 5.9%
Program Expenses Growth 6.3%
Working Capital Ratio (years) .72
(ADL can sustain itself for 0.72 years
without generating new revenue.)
Capacity Rating ****

Organizational Capacity refers to an organization’s
ability to sustain itself over time. Charities that
exhibit consistent revenue and expenses growth
are more likely to sustain its programs and services
over the long haul.

The ADL has net assets of $178,645,573. Compensation
for its National Director, Abraham Foxman, was $529,442
which is 0.69% of expenses. Percentage wise, this is a low
figure compared to other non-profits.

RECOMMENDATION:
The ADL can improve its overall rating and its efficiency rating
from Charity Navigator by increasing the percentage of
expenses spent on its programs and by concomitantly lowering
the percentage of expenses spent on fundraising and
administrative costs.

Next Week’s Blog: Friends of Israel Disabled Veterans